Solid Waste Management Books

The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters

Rose George

Amazon Price: $17.16 List Price: $26.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Metropolitan Books Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $13.00

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Economics -> Natural Resources
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Globalization
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Social Work

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An utterly original exploration of the world of human waste that will surprise, outrage—and entertain

Produced behind closed doors, disposed of discreetly, and hidden by euphemism, bodily waste is something common to all and as natural as breathing, yet we prefer not to talk about it. But we should—even those of us who take care of our business in pristine, sanitary conditions. For it’s not only in developing countries that human waste is a major public health threat: population growth is taxing even the most advanced sewage systems, and the disease spread by waste kills more people worldwide every year than any other single cause of death. Even in America, 1.95 million people have no access to an indoor toilet. Yet the subject remains unmentionable.

The Big Necessity takes aim at the taboo, revealing everything that matters about how people do—and don’t—deal with their own waste. Moving from the deep underground sewers of Paris, London, and New York—an infrastructure disaster waiting to happen—to an Indian slum where ten toilets are shared by 60,000 people, Rose George stops along the way to explore the potential saviors: China’s five million biogas digesters, which produce energy from waste; the heroes of third world sanitation movements; the inventor of the humble Car Loo; and the U.S. Army’s personal lasers used by soldiers to zap their feces in the field.

With razor-sharp wit and crusading urgency, mixing levity with gravity, Rose George has turned the subject we like to avoid into a cause with the most serious of consequences.

The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure

Joseph C. Jenkins

List Price: $19.00 By: Jenkins Publishing (PA) Amazon Marketplace: 10 new & used starting at $8.90

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Soil
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Techniques -> Organic
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Current Events -> Poverty -> Social Services & Welfare

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 64 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great for the environment 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Due to a plumbing fault in the house, my family have been composting in the back garden on a daily basis for over a year. What a bonus to stumble upon this book and find out that our actions have been helping to preserve the future of our planet! A number of residents in our street have complainined that the local environment has been suffering from some kind of unpleasant air pollution of late, so we feel proud to be putting something back.

Editorial Review:

There are almost seven billion defecating people on planet Earth, but few who have any clue about how to constructively handle the burgeoning mountain of human crap. The Humanure Handbook, third edition, will amuse you, educate you, and possibly offend you, but it will certainly pertain to you—unless, of course, your bowels never move.
This new edition of The Humanure Handbook is:

The Tenth Anniversary Edition

Richly illustrated with eye-candy artwork

Perfect for reading while sitting on the “throne”

Revised, improved, and updated

256 pages of crap

Black & Decker Complete Guide to Plumbing: Expanded 4th Edition - Modern Materials and Current Codes - All New Guide to Working with Gas Pipe (Black & Decker Complete Guide)

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Creative Publishing international Amazon Marketplace: 32 new & used starting at $14.00

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Home Design -> Remodeling & Renovation -> General
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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> How-to & Home Improvements -> Household Hints

Editorial Review:

Everything you need to know about plumbing. Everything.

Fresher and more complete than ever, this edition includes new material and revised information and is completely current with the 2006 Universal Plumbing Code. From basic repairs to advanced renovations, this is the only plumbing reference book a homeowner needs. And now, for the first time, Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Plumbing includes a comprehensive section on working with gas pipe. No other big book of plumbing for DIYers covers this important subject.

Also new to this 4th edition is expansive coverage of PEX (cross-linked polyethylene), the bendable supply tubing that's taking over a major portion of the DIY market. And with the current popularity of outdoor kitchens, we've expanded our coverage of outdoor plumbing as well. Now, we'll show you every step of the process to supply and drain an outdoor sink.

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet

Norma Lehmeier-Hartie

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Lingham Press Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $7.50

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Alternative Medicine -> Herbal Remedies
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Personal Health -> Healthy Living
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Personal Health -> Stress -> Feng Shui

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet, by Norma Lehmeier Hartie, is an indispensable reference book for anyone who cares about their health and well being and for the future of the planet. Hartie concisely covers a wide range of subjects and includes a comprehensive listing of advisory organizations, product and service resources. Part I of the book, Banish the Ugly from Your Life, is a blueprint for green, sustainable living. Discover how to replace toxic and unsustainable products from household cleaners to food (including recipes) to furniture to personal care products with safe, eco-friendly ones. Hartie is the tough but motivational Life Coach in her approach to cleaning, removing clutter and on organizing the home or office. Part II, Bring in the Beautiful to Create a Harmonious Environment and Self, includes a chapter on Earth-based spirituality and a fascinating look at the Four Elements (Earth, Fire, Air and Water) and the Medicine Wheel. The core of Hartie s philosophy blossoms in Chapter Seven, Applying Harmonious AdjustmentsTM: Using Feng Shui and Other Techniques for Powerful Results. Unlike other Feng Shui authors, Hartie has experience as a designer and her skills are apparent in this chapter and the following two. She has combined principles of Feng Shui, the Four Elements, color, energy, Vastu, and good design principles that create a unique and eclectic approach to home decorating. Finally, Hartie provides guidance on how to manifest personal or professional desires. In Part III, Putting the Pieces Together, Hartie skillfully integrates the many subjects of the book into a unified and cohesive whole. At its cover price of $19.95, Harmonious Environment is a value alone for the comprehensive green living product suppliers in the Resources section. What makes this book so truly ambitious, however, is what lies beneath the surface. In a sense, this book is only marginal

TheSeptic System Owner's Manual

Lloyd Kahn, Blair Allen, Julie Jones

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Shelter Publications Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $9.49

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> How-to & Home Improvements -> Plumbing & Household Automation

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

How To Keep Your Septic System Alive 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

As a practicing Environmental Health Specialist and homeowner with an onsite sewage disposal system, I can say with some authority that these authors know their s***. As a former Bug owner I can also say that the drawings by Peter Aschwanden, who got you through your first VW repair in Muir's classic, don't hurt one bit. Somehow car repair and septic repair gets your hands really dirty, in a Zen-like way. But I'll stop there before I dig too deep.

It's all here for the novice: standard gravity fed drainfields, septic tank sizing, gravel-less trenches, alternative and gray water systems, frequency of tank pumping, what not to dump down the drain, designing your own system, and the history of septic systems.

For $6 used you'll learn enough to avoid the ultimate nightmare: a failing septic in the winter. And even if that occurs, you'll know how to keep from giving your hard-earned buck to that "Waste of Time" Septic Engineer in the yellow pages.

Editorial Review:

More than 28 million households have septic systems, but few homeowners know how they operate or how to maintain them. This clearly written, illustrated guide addresses that need, emphasizing conventional septic systems powered by gravity flow, filtering through soil, and the natural soil organisms that purify sewage. The book discusses maintenance, what to do if things go wrong, and alternative systems such as mounds and sand filters. Additional chapters cover graywater systems, composting toilets, and a unique history of water-borne waste disposal. This expanded edition contains three new chapters.

Plumbing a House

Peter Hemp

List Price: $29.95 By: Taunton Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $6.95

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Architecture -> Building Types & Styles -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Correct information is the most important tool... 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

In Plumbing A House, Peter Hemp provides thorough and accurate information with very useful details and insights. I recommend this book to anyone who is doing any plumbing, having any plumbing performed for them, or who just owns a house and wants to have some idea of what provides the water and gas and what takes it away. The book is especially useful to read before performing an inspection of the plumbing in an old house, before major repairs, or before you build a new house. A "For Pros By Pros" companion volume, "Wiring A House", by Rex Cauldwell, also gets my 5-star rating, for similar reasons.

Solid information is provided for tools; materials; pipe sizing; joinery; drain, waste, and venting; water distribution; fuel gas distribution, and for venting gas water heaters and furnaces. Remodeling is also considered, but an area that could benefit from a little enhancement is the renovation of fuel-gas distribution systems. Much important information is there, but there are a lot of insights an experienced plumber could provide that are missing.

I have the version printed in 1998, and another shortcoming I found is that there is one new technology that is not covered deeply, and the book needs an update to add this. The information presented is amazingly complete and helpful without having a book 3 or 4 inches thick.

I should say that I have enough experience -- and tools -- to give plumbers and electricians a lot of gray hair when they work for me, but not enough to pass any professional test. If any of them read this, I want them to know how much I appreciate true professionals!

The information I found to be missing concerns PEX (Polyethylene Cross-Link tubing) and a manifold for water distribution. Only brief mentions of PE tubing is made. PEX, especially combined with a manifold distribution system, resolves a number of plumbing issues with many benefits. Many new houses are now plumbed with PEX and manifold systems, and owners seem blissfully unaware of the benefits--the way plumbing should be.

My house (46 years-old, and we are the fifth owners) recently had its galvanized steel pipe system fail due to years of electrolysis. There were a number of complicating factors that contributed to its early end: improper grounding of the electrical system, improper installation of a water softener, improper repairs, and a failure of previous homeowners to recognize that something was wrong and do something about it. (If you have faucets falling apart, don't just assume that it was a cheap faucet!) This book helped me figure out what was wrong, why, and what I might do about it. I had to do my own cost and benefit analysis, of course. And the book didn't tell me about the solution I picked.

The entire water distribution system in my house has now been replaced with a Vanguard Piping Systems, Inc. ManaBloc(tm) manifold system with PEX tubing. The manifold is in the garage next to the hot water heater, and a tube runs from the manifold to each fixture for cold and hot water. The tubes are color-coded. The manifold has a valve for each tube. Each tube has only two connection points: 1) at the manifold and 2) at the fixture. Flow volume is determined by tube size, pressure is evenly divided, and temperature remains constant. Four people performed the entire replacement project in 12 hours. All water was off for less than 30 minutes, and each bathroom was re-plumbed separately. The sheetrock repairs took a bit longer, but they were small compared to other options using rigid pipe.

What a book like "Plumbing A House" could add are the rules for routing the tubes and for installing the manifold that will prevent further hassles down the road. It is my experience that plumbers (and especially their helpers) want to get their current job done, and don't want to have to come back to fix a problem for free, but don't care a whit if what they do causes the carpenter, electrician, HVAC technician, or some other guy a nightmare or two. "Plumbing A House" can give you the information to help the plumber have a bit more consideration--and to give him a few more gray hairs while you are at it.

Editorial Review:

Master plumber Peter Hemp explains in step-by-step sequence how to create (for both new and remodeled homes) plumbing systems that function efficiently and withstand the rigors of time. For both homeowners and professionals, he shows how to design, size, and install pipes using a variety of standard materials and tools.

Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash

Susan Strasser

List Price: $27.50 By: Metropolitan Books Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $3.97

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Economics -> Economic Conditions
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Economics -> Natural Resources
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An unprecedented look at that most commonplace act of everyday life-throwing things out-and how it has transformed American society.

Susan Strasser's pathbreaking histories of housework and the rise of the mass market have become classics in the literature of consumer culture. Here she turns to an essential but neglected part of that culture-the trash it produces-and finds in it an unexpected wealth of meaning. Before the twentieth century, streets and bodies stank, but trash was nearly nonexistent. With goods and money scarce, almost everything was reused. Strasser paints a vivid picture of an America where scavenger pigs roamed the streets, swill children collected kitchen garbage, and itinerant peddlers traded manufactured goods for rags and bones. Over the last hundred years, however, Americans have become hooked on convenience, disposability, fashion, and constant technological change-the rise of mass consumption has led to waste on a previously unimaginable scale.

Lively and colorful, Waste and Want recaptures a hidden part of our social history, vividly illustrating that what counts as trash depends on who's counting, and that what we throw away defines us as much as what we keep.

The Dock Manual: Designing/Building/Maintaining

Max Burns

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Storey Publishing, LLC Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $9.14

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Architecture -> Drawing & Modelling -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Something Missing 3 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Yes, this book provides a well-illustrated overview of approaches to dock building and choices of materials. But it doesn't go far enough if you have a significant tidal range or if the wind blows. What's missing is any introduction to engineering. How to make sure the ramp doesn't fall off your float when the tide goes out. How to figure the static forces on your dock caused by 4 knot currents. How to estimate the wave heights and dynamic forces in 80 knot winds. And how to design a dock that will survive this abuse. You might want to involve a professional engineer in these situations, but that can be true of pretty much anything to do with docks. A book with this title should at least introduce you to these subjects and provide references for the gory details. Like some others, the author believes books like this should be peppered with jokes. Personally I find this annoying, but I must admit his jokes are above average. So if you want a funny introduction to building docks in gentle places, this book is for you.

Editorial Review:

The Dock Manual is the only book devoted entirely to planning, constructing, and maintaining residential docks on rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Water Treatment Principles and Design

James M. Montgomery

List Price: $210.00 By: Wiley-Interscience Amazon Marketplace: 11 new & used starting at $39.36

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Engineering -> Civil -> Environmental -> General
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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Engineering -> Civil -> Environmental -> Water Quality & Treatment

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This book covers all the theory and application in an outstanding way without getting too simple or complex. The book is coherent, very well organized, and filled with excellent tables and graphs. Great examples as well. I have nothing negative to say about this text.

a good book for Environmental Engineer 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 34 people found this review helpful.

I'm a Environmental Engineer Of wastewater treatment, and have worked only for one year. I am so eager to get the knowlege for this effect.

Editorial Review:

Drawing on the vast experience of the most respected firm in the industry, Water Treatment Principles and Design is the first major reference on the science of water treatment in several decades. It covers both the practical and theoretical aspects of water quality analysis, treatment plant operation, and facility design, and provides detailed descriptions of processes such as coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, ion exchange, and adsorption. In addition, it offers one of the most extensive discussions ever published on design criteria, including component description and organization, aeration equipment, upflow clarifiers, disinfection, and materials.

William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles

Catherine Mulholland

List Price: $49.95 By: University of California Press Amazon Marketplace: 21 new & used starting at $2.00

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> State & Local -> California

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

William Mulholland presided over the creation of a water system that forever changed the course of southern California's history. Mulholland, a self-taught engineer, was the chief architect of the Owens Valley Aqueduct--a project ranking in magnitude and daring with the Panama Canal--that brought water to semi-arid Los Angeles from the lush Owens Valley. The story of Los Angeles's quest for water is both famous and notorious: it has been the subject of the classic yet historically distorted movie Chinatown, as well as many other accounts. This first full-length biography of Mulholland challenges many of the prevailing versions of his life story and sheds new light on the history of Los Angeles and its relationship with its most prized resource: water.
Catherine Mulholland, the engineer's granddaughter, provides insights into this story that family familiarity affords, and adds to our historical understanding with extensive primary research in sources such as Mulholland's recently uncovered office files, newspapers, and Department of Water and Power archives. She scrutinizes Mulholland's life--from his childhood in Ireland to his triumphant completion of the Owens Valley Aqueduct to the tragedy that ended his career.
This vivid portrait of a rich chapter in the history of Los Angeles is enhanced with a generous selection of previously unpublished photographs.
Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of 2000